Bruce Jenner
William "Bruce" Jenner (born October 28, 1949) is a former U.S. Track and Field athlete and current motivational speaker, television personality and businessman. He won the gold medal in the Decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal. Following his Olympics victory and the related recognition, his professional career led to a new success in television. He has starred in several made-for-TV movies and was Erik Estrada's replacement briefly on the top-rated TV series CHiPS. In 1991, he married Kris Jenner (nee Houghton, previously Kardashian). Since the 2007 debut of the E! network television reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, he is seen as the stepfather of the Kardashian siblings: Kourtney, Kim, Khole and Rob Kardashian as well as the father of Burt, Brody, Kendall and Kylie Jenner. His use of cosmentic surgery has attracted media interest. Early Life Jenner was born in Mount Kisco, New York, the son of Esther R. (nee McGuire) and William Hugh Jenner. Jenner has a younger sister named Nicole. His younger brother, Burt was killed in a car accident in Canton, Connecticut shortly after his success in the Olympics. Jenner was diagnosed with dyslexia as a young child. He attended Newton High School in Newton, Connecticut, after spending a year at Sleepy Hollow High School in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Jenner earned a football scholarship and attended Graceland College (now Graceland University) in Iowa, bit a knee injury forced him to stop playing football switched to the decathlon. He was mentored by Graceland's track coach L.D. Weldon, who was the first to recognize Jenner's potential and encouraged him to pursue the decathlon. Jenner debut in the decathlon at the Drake Relays in 1970. placing fifth. Olympic Career Jenner placed third in the decathlon at the 1972 U.S. Olympic trials and finished in tenth place at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany. His success prompted him t devote himself to an intense training regimen, while also selling insurance outside training hours. In the era before professionalism was allowed in the athletics this kind of training was unheard of. During that period, he spent eight hours a day at the San Jose City College track. Centered around Bert Bonanno, the coach at SJCC, San Jose at the time was a hotbed for training aspiring Olympic athletes, including Jenner along with Millard Hampton, Andre Phillips, John Powell, Mac Wilkins, Al Feuerbach and others. in 1974 and 1976, Jenner was the American champion in the event. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, he won the gold medal in the Decathlon, setting the world record of 8,616 points. The world record was broken by just 4 points by Daley Thompson in 1980. In 1985, the IAAF, Decathlon scoring table was changed so Jenner's winning score has been reevaluated against that table ad reported as 8634 for comparative purposes. As of 2011, Jenner is No.25 on the world's all-time list and the No.9 American. As a result of winning the Olympic decathlon, Jenner was a national hero. He was the 1976 recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Jenner was also the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1976. He was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1980. He as inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. San Jose City hosted the "Bruce Jenner Invitational" (frequently shortened to "Jenner") as a televised annul stop on the United States Track and Field Circuit (a meet equivalent to the Prefontaine Classic) for the better part of two decades. Records were set at the meet with Jenner frequently hosting the telecasts. Celebrity In the 1970s, Olympic athletes were considered amateur and were absolutely not allowed to seek or accept payment for their positions as sports celebrities. In 1972, three major Olympic titles that had a long history of American success (basketball, 100 meters, decathlon) were won by Soviet athletes during the Cold War. Winning back the decathlon title made Jenner as American hero. After the Olympic success, Jenner set out to cash in on his celebrity success (requiring him to give up any future Olympic appearances). He left his vaulting poles in the stadium, having no intention of ever using them again. Quickly after the Games, Jenner appeared on the front of Wheaties brand breakfast cereal as a "Wheaties champion" of several hundred athletes who have been so featured, Jenner is one of several Wheaties "spokesmen". He was invited to the White House to meet president Gerald R. Ford, who autographed a political cartoon that featured the pair. On November 22, 1977, Bruce went to San Francisco to refute changes filed by the district attorney that General Mills, the makers of Wheaties, has been engaged in false advertising. Jenner contended that he likes the cereal and consumes this breakfast cereal two or three times per week. Two days later, District Attorney Joseph Freitas withdrew false advertising suit against General Mills for its advertising campaign featuring Jenner saying that it was "a case of overzealousness" on the part of his staff. In 1977, the Kansas City Kings selected Jenner with the 140th pick of the NBA Draft. Jenner not had actually played basketball since high school; the closest he came to a roundball career was when he sank a basket in the "YMCA" sequence of the film Can't Stop the Music in 1980. The movie was a disco-era comedy about the singing group The Village People. It gave Jenner a starring role but the movie was a flop. Jenner was nominated for the 1980 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for his performance. That was the end of his theatrical movie career until he appeared in 2011's Jack & Jill in a scene with Al Pacino as an actor in a play. Adam Sandler won the Gold Raspberry as both Worst Actor and Worst Actress in that film. Both Can't Stop the Music and Jack & Jill won the Raspberry Award for Worst Picture making Jenner two of two in his movie career. Jenner decided to pursue a television career and had some success. He starred in the made-for-TV movies: The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story (1980) and Grambling's White Tiger (1981). From 1981 to 1982, he became a semi-regular cast member on television series CHiPS, guest-starring as Officer Steve McLeish (substituting for star Erik Estrada, who was lodged in a contract dispute with NBC and MGM), for six episodes. He also appeared on an episode of the sitcom Silver Spoons where he revealed his dyslexia in a storyline that dealt with a teenaged recurring character dealing with the same problem. He also appeared on the series Learn to Read. His "hero shot", the finish of the final event of 1976 Olympic decathlon, was parodied by John Beluishi on Saturday Night Live (SNL) endorsing "Little Chocolate Doughnuts" instead of Wheaties. Jenner also appeared in video games Olympic Decathlon (1981) and Bruce Jenner's World Class Decathlon (1996). Further TV apperances Jenner has appeared as himself on a variety of game shows and reality television programs. He starred with Grits Gresham in an episode of ABC's The American Sportsman. The program featured Gresham hunting, fishing or shooting in exotic spots with celebrities. In the early 1990s, he was the host of an infomercial for a stair-climbing exercise machine called the Stair Climber Plus. In January 2002, Jenner participated in an episode of the American series of The Weakest Link featuring Olympic athletes. In February and March 2003, he was part of the cast of the American series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and made a cameo on a season three episode of ''The Apprentice that originally aired in May 2005. He was partnered with Tai Babilonia for Skating with Celebrities that aired January-March 2006 (they were eliminated during the fifth of seven episodes). Jenner has additionally served as a judge on Pet Star on Animal Planet and appeared on NBC's game show Identity as well as Celebrity Family Feud as well as such talk shows as Hannity and The Bonnie Hunt Show. Since late 2007, Jenner has starred in the E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, along with Kris Jenner, stepdaughters: Kourtney, Kim, Khole, and stepson Rob (from Kris' marriage to attorney Robert Kardashian) and daughters Kylie and Kenhall. Season 2 had an average of 1.6 million viewers, an increase over the previous cycle. Jenner has also made cameo appearances on the show's spinoff series. Business His company, Bruce Jenner Aviator, sells aircraft supplies to executives and corporations. Jenner was the business development vice president for a staffing industry software application known as JennerNet, which was based on Lotus Domino technology. Jenner was the marketing name for Bruce Jenner's Westwood Centers for Nautilus & Aerobics in the early 1980s, Jenner had no owenership in the centers. The fitness centers were owned by David Cirotto. The centers were sold to Super Fitness Centers, owned by martial arts expert Paul Snow. Personal Life Jenner named his son after he deceased brother. During his first marriage to Chrystie Crowner (1972 to 1981) he had two children Burt and Casey. During his second marriage to Linda Thompson (1981 to 1985) he had two sons, Brandon and Sam "Brody". Brandon and Brody appeared in their own reality show The Princes of Malibu. Broady was on the reality show The Hills. Jenner married Kris Jenner (nee Houghton) on April 21, 1991, after five months of dating. Jenner had two daughters with Kris, Kendall and Kylie. He is also the stepfather to Kris' four children from her previous marriage to the late lawyer Robert Kardashian: Kourtney, Kim, Khole and Rob. The Jenners announced their separation in October 2013. though they had actually separated a year earlier. In December 2013, Jenner reportedly consulted with a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon about having a tracheal surgery. The procedure which results in flattening an Adam's apple was reportedly carried out in early 2014. Although a tracheal surgery performed on patients undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Jenner once had denied plans for a sex change operation claiming that he just, "never liked his trachea". But two years later, the rumors were true. Sex Change In 2015, Bruce Jenner had completed his sex change operation, long after a special televised interview by veteran journalist Diane Sawyer. He (or in this case she) is now known as Caitlyn Jenner. She used a "C" instead of a "K" just as a matter of distancing herself from the Kardashians. She was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY awards. Shows Hosted Star Games Double Dare (1987 pilot) Celebrity Double Dare (1987 pilot) Shows appeared Battle of the Network Stars Family Feud Sports Geniuses Hollywood Squares The Weakest Link Pet Star I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! The Apprentice The Contender Skating with Celebrities Identity Celebrity Family Feud (2008 version) Dancing with the Stars (as audience Member) America's Next Top Model (as Audience Member) The X Factor (as Audience Member/Uncredited) Match Game (2016 Version) Link His Official Website Category:Contestants Category:Panelists Category:Hosts Category:Judges Category:People Category:1949 Births